Joss Stone is just as surprised as anyone that she’s still making music after more than 20 years.
The 37-year-old English R&B singer unexpectedly entered the limelight at age 13 after winning the BBC Television talent show Star for a Night. Her 2003 debut, The Soul Sessions, quickly followed, and she hasn’t slowed down since.
So when the 20th anniversary of her first record of classic soul covers came around last year, she genuinely couldn’t believe it.
“Isn’t that mental? You know what, it’s funny, I didn’t know,” Stone says. “I never know what bloody day of the week it is, and sometimes I do forget what year it is. The year before the 20 years I was doing interviews like this and the interviewers started to say, ‘Hey, you’re coming up on your 20th year.’ I was like, ‘Huh? No, I’m not. What are you talking about?’ It absolutely shocked me to the core that I’ve been doing this for 20 years.”
She’s celebrating another milestone this year — 20 years of her sophomore release, Mind Body & Soul, which resulted in three Grammy nominations. As well-received as that one-two punch was at the time, she admits to not being a fan of her voice back then. But Stone gives her younger self some grace.
“As a singer, I listen to my voice on those records, and I’m actually proud that I’m in tune, like, ‘Wow, I can really hold my pitch.’ But am I proud about how I sang it? No, good lord. I was learning how to sing in front of the world,” she says. “It was sort of a baptism by fire, but it was really great. I’m grateful for those songs and everyone who worked on those records, because they gave me confidence and strength to do what I do now.”
‘The most special year’
In honor of those early offerings, Stone recently shared her first-ever live album, 20 Years of Soul: Live in Concert, recorded during the 2023 anniversary run.
“I never was brave enough to do [a live album] before,” she says. “Each gig made me want to cry. The audience was sort of like your long-lost friends you’d grown up with. I had gone through so much, and so have they, and we’ve gone through it together.”
Describing the experience as “the most special year” of her career, Stone & Co. decided to continue the celebration with the Ellipsis Tour through 2024.
The global run comes to Boulder on Monday, Aug. 12, at the Chautauqua Auditorium. Funk bassist, vocalist and producer Nik West is also on the bill.
Despite her self-deprecating sense of humor, Stone is one of the most powerful singers of the 21st century. Her pipes have drawn comparisons to 1960s icon Janis Joplin and garnered her numerous accolades, including a 2007 Grammy for her rendition of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Family Affair” with John Legend and Van Hunt. She has also appeared on screen in the 2006 fantasy-adventure film Eragon, the Showtime series The Tudors and as a voice actor in the 2010 video game James Bond 007: Blood Stone.
In 2014, she embarked on a world tour and played in literally every country on the map, while collaborating with local artists, including giving Mongolian throat singing a go.
“Music is real magic,” she says. “If we have magic in this world, that’s one of the things. You can connect with someone who doesn’t understand a bloody word you’re saying.”
‘A magical thing’
During her globetrotting, Stone established her nonprofit, The Joss Stone Foundation, which has since partnered with more than 200 charities in 10 years.
Her proudest accomplishment is when she connected a Peruvian boy, who was deaf and blind, with a Panama organization that provides cochlear implants.
“Now that boy can hear,” she says. “I just feel like that to me was the best, most wonderful moment. It was worth it. Even if the entire world tour happened just for that moment, I’d be at peace.”
But again, Stone didn’t realize a decade of humanitarian aid is already behind her. She still likes to maintain a busy schedule of performances and side projects, even if it means time slips away a little faster than it does for most people.
“I felt myself lucky to be able to do it for one year,” she says. “To do it for that long, I can’t believe this. It’s a real job. I actually got a real job. It’s wonderful. It’s really a magical thing.”
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ON THE BILL: Joss Stone with Nik West. 7:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 12. Chautauqua Auditorium, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. $53